food safety system. One test followed a
package of mangoes through the entire
system to the store shelf, and from there
they tried to trace it back to its origin.
While the old system took six days
and 18 hours to trace a product to a
particular farm, the blockchain-based
system identified the journey and origin
in just over two seconds.
"Think about that in a scenario that
could be life-threatening," Haziot says.
"If you can trace it back very quickly
[and identify] the name of the source,
you can save a lot of lives or reduce
illnesses."
A 'TRUSTED ENVIRONMENT'
Blockchain can significantly improve
visibility, safety and compliance
because it creates a fully "trusted
environment" for data, Haziot says. In
the blockchain, records are organized
chronologically into "blocks" that
are then tied together. Records can be
accessed by private keys for the owner
of that record and with public keys
by participants with whom they want
to share information. The system is
intended to enable the user to have
full control of the data while allowing
participants to gain access to trusted
information and the state of the food
for their transactions.
"It's a huge database that can be
safely shared among a huge number
of people. They can put in all of their
data but only share what they want to,"
Haziot says.
IBM is continually seeking new ways
in which blockchain can benefit food
Blockchain's detailed traceability can offer stronger
assurance of origin and chain of custody, faster and more
precise recalls, fresher food with less waste and fewer
contamination incidents.
systems. It has since introduced one of
the first fully integrated, enterprise-grade
production blockchain platforms for
organizations to quickly activate their
own networks. The IBM Blockchain
Platform is available via the IBM Cloud
and builds off the success of work with
more than 400 organizations. The
platform operates through an open
source collaboration in the Hyperledger
community and allows multiple parties
to jointly develop, govern and operate
their own secure blockchain.
Frank Yiannas, vice president of food
safety at Walmart, says blockchain
technology enables a "new era" of
end-to-end transparency in the global
food system that will further promote
responsible actions and behaviors.
"It also allows all participants to
share information rapidly and with
confidence across a strong trusted
network," Yiannas says. "This is
critical to ensuring that the global food
system remains safe for all."
Aside from security and visibility, there
are many other use cases for blockchain
in food supply. It could improve
transportation and make it more efficient
through "smart contracts," Burruss
says. These smart transactions could
initiate when milestones are reached
or a product reaches a certain point
in the supply chain. That could create
an automated system that could verify
checkpoints and milestones, giving
retailers more insight and security about
the supply chain.
"Every event that happens with that
truck is right there and out there for
everyone to see," Burruss says. "That
can include temperature, provenance,
detention time, delivery. It's all being
recorded for everyone and eliminates
questions."
To fuel more widespread adoption,
Haziot says it will need to be costeffective for all parties to join the
network. There will also need to be
seamless onboarding with software
that takes only a minimal amount
of internal effort for participants to
put their data on the network. IBM
is currently working on these issues,
Haziot says.
"Retailers will need to take the lead in
requiring it," Mehring says. "Growers
feel like they're usually getting squeezed
the most on margin, on the cost of
product, and they're only going to do
what's [minimally] required."
Craig Guillot is based in New Orleans and
writes about retail, real estate, business and
personal finance. Read more of his work at
www.craigdguillot.com.
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